


Wonderland

by legolastariel



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Blow Job, Cuddling & Snuggling, Feels, Fluff and Humor, Fun on a run :-), M/M, Making Out, Sweet, Veeery sweet :-)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 08:01:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12813141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legolastariel/pseuds/legolastariel
Summary: Rick, Daryl and Glenn are on a run together and Daryl is anything but happy with the outcome.They haven't found what they were looking for and on top of that he misses his partner, misses time with Rick alone, because privacy is rare since they've come to Alexandria.Daryl hates Alexandria and he's in a crappy mood - until they come across a store that makes his day. And in there he finds more than he's been looking for.





	Wonderland

**Author's Note:**

> Set behind the run in 6x10 and before the Saviors first appear. Late S6 timeline.  
> Did I mention that Richonne is not a thing?
> 
> Thanks to the wonderful staceykc for betaing this piece for me. I appreciate your help, hon.

**Wonderland**

 

         “Guys, I swear this is the greatest run we ever did!”

Glenn was excited like a little kid on Christmas and looked at Rick and Daryl with happily shining eyes. 

         “Yeah? How?” Daryl grumbled.

He was sitting in between the Asian, who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat, and Rick in the cab of their pick-up truck and cast Glenn a dark side glance.

         “What’s great ‘bout _not_ findin’ any a’ ‘em stuff we came out here for?” 

         “Maybe we were just looking for the wrong stuff?” Glenn offered, not willing to let anything spoil his good mood. 

Rick, who was sitting behind the wheel, suppressed a smile.   
He found Glenn’s optimism and enthusiasm heartwarming and these days anybody having a reason to smile brightened his day. He saw tears and sad faces way too often for his liking.   
Nevertheless – Daryl was right. The truck might have been loaded with supplies, but they hadn’t found a single thing of what they urgently needed.

         “I hate to spoil your fun, Glenn”, he said cautiously, “but Daryl’s got a point there. We need parts to repair the generators, fuel, ammo, seeds for the gardens, tools and …

         “And you”, the archer cut in, casting Glenn a scowl, “piled a load a’ ‘em _things_ into our truck.”

Glenn sighed.

         “Those _things_ are tampons, Daryl, and I’m telling you – every girl back in Alexandria between ten and fifty-five is gonna worship us from now on.”

         “Pff”, Daryl snorted, “tampons ma ass, man.”

         “Er, no”, Rick tossed in with a suppressed smirk, “Glenn wasn’t talking about _your_ … never mind.” 

         “Ya think this ‘s funny?” The leader was at the receiving end of Daryl’s scowl now.   
         “We got a truck load full a’ crap. ‘em girls ain’t gonna need ‘em tampons ta survive, but wait what happens when the generators break down. Blood, sweat ‘n’ tears as soon as they can’t work their hairdryers no longer.”  
He turned around to Glenn with a dark look.  
         “Speakin’ a’ which … The hell, man?”

He pointed over his shoulder to a few boxes with hairdryers that sat in the truck bed and frowned when Glenn just shrugged.

         “Look, we’ve got a few ladies back home, who’ve got pretty long hair and just because it’s the apocalypse doesn’t mean people have to look like scarecrows.”

Daryl’s look even darkened when Glenn’s eyes rested on his hair a tad too long. 

         “Daryl”, Rick said gently to smooth ruffled feelings, “I agree, we still need to find those parts and a bunch of other stuff Eugene wanted, but there’s nothing wrong with bringing home things that will just make life a little easier.”

The next moment he audibly sucked in the air and hit the brakes forcefully, when a blue, hairy _thing_ with big eyes appeared right in front of his face.

         “Like that?” Daryl commented dryly while he lowered a plushie of the cookie monster.   
         “As if one cookie monster in Alexandria wasn’t enough”, he added with an eye-roll and his two companions couldn’t help chuckling.

         “Has Carol force-fed you her cookies again?” Rick asked sympathetically. 

         “Don’t get me started. If she keeps that up, we gotta find larger doors and XXL pants for me.”

Both Glenn and Rick broke out laughing.

         “She knows you’ve got a sweet tooth and only wants to see her pookie happy”, Rick teased and laughed even harder when Daryl gave him the finger. 

         “What’s with the plushie?” Rick gasped, when he had composed himself enough to speak. 

         “While we were in the library, Glenn raided a toy store”, Daryl said with a side glance at the Asian.   
         “Huge box back there ‘s full a’ kid’s books, toys ‘n’ plushies.”

A thoughtful look spread over his face.

         “Ya know, think that wasn’t even a bad idea. Judy’s gonna love the blue fella here.”  
He poked the cookie monster in the belly with his index finger.  
         “And yer ‘n’ Maggie’s li’l pancake is gonna like ‘em toys ‘n’ books, too, one day.” 

Rick cast him a smile from the side while he accelerated the car again.

         “And here you said that run wasn’t successful.” He nudged Daryl’s shoulder playfully. “All the two of us found is boring books on how to build stuff, agriculture, gardening, how European towns in the middle ages were structured and functioned self-supporting …”  
“I’m glad Glenn found _The Cat in the Hat_ , so it’s not a complete failure”, he teased. 

         “I loved _The Cat in the Hat_ when I was little”, Glenn defended his choice of literature. “My mom used to read it to me and my sisters all the time.”

         “My favorite was _Peter Pan”_ , Rick said thoughtfully. “Makes you wish sometimes it had worked, right? Not growing up, being able to fly away to another world …”

         “… where yer chased ‘n’ threatened by a nasty guy with a hook and his henchman?”

Pulling a face Rick cast the archer another side glance.

         “You’re a real ray of sunshine today, you know that? Now you just spoiled _Peter Pan_ for me. Let’s hear it then – which one was your favorite book when you were a kid?”

Daryl pressed his lips together and stared wordlessly out of the window, while Rick cursed silently. He should have known better than to bring up his partner’s childhood and apparently he had once again opened a can of worms.

         “Hey”, he said softly, placing a hand gently on Daryl’s thigh. “Wanna read Judy one of those books tonight?”

         “Makes ya think I can read?” Daryl murmured, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

         “You don’t have to – there’s pictures”, Rick played along.  

         “Jackass”, Daryl replied, but the same moment placed his hand on top of Rick’s and left it there. 

The leader smiled to himself and for a few minutes they drove in silence.   
It was a small town they had come across and the goods of the stores along the main street had barely been touched, as though no one else had been here before. Then again, maybe tampons, toys and hairdryers just hadn’t been top on their lists. 

Rick drove at walking pace along the main street, so they could look at the stores as they passed. As much as the things they had found would make at least half of the population of Alexandria happy, Eugene was going to be in their hair till Kingdom come if they didn’t get him the electrical parts he needed – and sorghum.   
A thought that didn’t brighten neither Rick’s, nor Daryl’s mood, because they knew Eugene.   
No time of the day (or night), no locked doors and the best hiding places in all of Alexandria was stopping that man from marching in on them and requesting those damn supplies each time they were in the middle of …  
An awkward reaction in his pants had Rick stop that train of thought and rather concentrate on their mission.   
They had to be successful today and get Eugene what he wanted, so he and Daryl would finally get some undisturbed time together without having to run off to Kentucky first. Probably not even _that_ would stop Eugene.   
Rick could totally understand that his partner was on edge. He felt as though he was about to explode any day now, too, so if they came up empty today, he probably had no choice but to kill Eugene. Pity. 

         “Stop!”

Glenn’s call pulled Rick out of his thoughts and he hit the brakes once more. Daryl tried to see what the Asian had spotted, but Glenn was blocking his view.

         “What is it?”

         “Daryl, I found _the_ store for you.”

         “Man, if this ‘s a hairdresser now, ‘m gonna shoot ya right here ‘n’ now.”

Rick suppressed a chuckle.

         “Judy offered him some of her hair clasps the other day”, he explained to Glenn with a grin.

         “The pink and glittery ones?” the Asian teased, greatly daring.

         “Nah”, Daryl growled, “Carl’s got those already. Cut it out!”

Rick lifted a hand and gently pushed one of Daryl’s long strands out of his lover’s face and tucked it behind his ear. He loved the way Daryl’s ears used to stick out of the unruly hair. And although it was usually a mess that looked as though its last encounter with a comb was before the apocalypse, he knew Daryl took pride in it nevertheless.   
So for Glenn’s sake Rick hoped it wasn’t really a hairdresser he had him stop at. It would be a shame to lose both Eugene and Glenn on the same day. 

The Asian sat back in his seat so Daryl could look past him and the next moment the archer leaned across him and almost flattened his nose on the passenger side window.   
A second later the door was pushed open fiercely and Glenn received a shove.

         “Lemme out, man. Move. I wanna … Get out already!”

Daryl almost climbed over his friend when Glenn didn’t move quickly enough.

         “What is it?” Rick grinned, while opening the driver’s door to take a look himself. “Crossbows? Bikes?”   
         _“Sure isn’t soap”,_ he couldn’t help thinking. 

         “Way better”, Daryl answered with brightly shining eyes from where he had stopped before the store window.   
         “Looks like it’s Alice’s fuckin’ wonderland.” 

         “Who the heck is Alice?” Rick teased, while he came to stand next to his partner.

         “One a’ ‘em chicks who’s gonna worship Glenn for ‘em stupid tampons and hairdryers, but she sure ‘s hell ain’t gonna get any a’ _this_ stuff here. ‘s all mine.” 

Rick peeked through the window and broke out laughing.

         “That’s a candy store, Daryl.”

The archer cast him a meaningful look, then looked up to the huge sign over the door that read _Candyland,_ before he focused on Rick again, who looked kind of sheepish now. 

         “Luv ya anyway”, Daryl reassured Rick with a shrug, before he knocked a couple of times against the window pane, ignoring Glenn’s giggle next to him. 

When it remained totally quiet inside, the archer opened the door and, a knife in his hand, entered the store. He had totally forgotten to bring his crossbow from the car.   
Glenn and Rick checked the salesroom and a small adjoining office for walkers, while Daryl stood frozen in front of the ceiling high shelves full of glasses, boxes and bags with chocolate, bonbons, licorice, lollipops, chewing gum, cotton candy, popcorn and nougat.   
His eyes were large as saucers and he had started drooling the moment he had walked through the door.  
When Rick and Glenn came to stand on either side of him, he commented dryly:

         “Shit, ya shoulda told me I died ‘n’ went ta Heaven.” 

         “Pff”, Glenn commented with a wrinkle of his nose while he looked around, “what makes you think this was Heaven? That stuff is years old and if not cavities, it’s gonna give you an upset stomach and …”

         “Get outta ma store, man.”

Rick suppressed a grin and placed a hand comradely on the Asian’s shoulder.

         “You’re talking to the man who chased a vending machine through half of the state of Virginia. Friendship ends when it comes to chocolate.”

         “Ain’t true”, the archer cut in, not taking his eyes off the goodies around as though he was afraid they’d disappear the moment he wasn’t looking.   
         “Ya always got yer fair share, haven’t ya?” 

         “Uh-huh”, Rick smirked, while he leaned in to whisper into Daryl’s ear.  
“We both know it’s kind of self-serving for you to feed me candy, since you’re gonna lick it right out of my mouth again anyway.”

He pecked Daryl’s lips, while the archer grinned into the kiss and Glenn was torn in between blushing and rolling his eyes. He opted for smiling to himself with a thoughtful air on his face, wondering if he should take some of that chocolate home to his wife asap …  
When he focused on his companions again, he saw them still looking deep into each other’s eyes and Glenn knew that look. When Daryl ignored even the chocolate factory in favor of Willy Wonka it was time for a fast retreat.

         “Er, I’m gonna go outside and keep watch.”

         “Uh-huh”, came a simultaneous grumble, but neither of the other two even looked up.

With a smirk Glenn pulled back and headed to the door. There were days that Rick and Daryl’s relationship still amazed him. Days when he couldn’t help thinking back to how they started, being in each other’s hair for the most part, Rick pushing his gun into Daryl’s face more often than not. Until that day in Atlanta, when they went back to get Merle and the archer’s attitude changed entirely and for good when Rick said “I know exactly how you feel”.   
That was the first time Glenn had watched those two getting lost in each other’s eyes, the first moment of countless ones when the world around them seemed to stop existing and for a couple of heartbeats nothing else mattered.  
When someone found that one special person whose heart was able to beat in sync with their own and whose soul entwined with theirs, it was magic, pure and enchanting, and something that happened once in a lifetime to the lucky ones.   
Glenn was happy for them. Happy that they had found in each other what he had found in Maggie. 

         “I’ll honk if there’s danger”, he let his two friends know when he reached the door.  
          
         “Uh-huh”, came another simultaneous murmur. 

         “And maybe I’m gonna run over to McDonald’s real quick and get us some fries and cheeseburgers.”

         “Uh-huh.” 

Chuckling to himself Glenn started pulling the door closed behind himself, muttering to himself rather than anyone else.

         “And I want your bike, Daryl.”

His chuckle turned into a laugh when he closed the door right in time before a forcefully tossed Butterfinger was about to hit him in the head. 

Daryl shrugged when he noticed one of Rick’s eyebrows go up.

         “Chocolate’s one thing, but friendship sure as hell ends when it comes to ma bike.”

A smile tugged at the leader’s lips.

         “I see you got your priorities straight.”

         “Ya bet I do”, Daryl breathed in his face when he leaned in and touched his mouth to his partner’s.  
          
         “It’s hard”, Rick whispered to him in between a volley of small kisses he planted on the older man’s lips, “to compete with something that can keep going all night.”

Daryl suppressed a laugh and pulled Rick closer, while he responded to the kisses.

         “That sentence sure ended up bein’ longer than I expected.

He grinded his hip against Rick’s and grinned when he felt a shudder run through his lover’s body.

         “’s hard alright”, he teased. 

         “Damn, if you keep that up I’m gonna come in my pants right here and now.”

         “Anythin’ wrong with that?”

Rolling his eyes, Rick pushed him a few inches away while he cast a look towards the door.

         “Glenn’s outside.”

         “So what?” A smile tugged on Daryl’s lips. “I got one word for ya: Guard tower.” 

         “That’s two words.” 

         “Ah, shut up, Grimes.”

Rick cocked his head and this time the smile played around his lips.  
          
         “Make me.”

The next second Daryl’s lips were back on his, while the archer backed his partner up against the sales counter. Hands slipped into each other's hair and underneath the other’s shirt in the need to touch, to feel bare skin.

         “God, I miss you”, Rick breathed into his partner’s mouth, before he started kissing his way along Daryl’s jawline to his neck. 

         “Ditto”, the archer replied, tilting his head to give Rick better access. “We gotta go on runs again. Alone. Jus’ you ‘n’ me.” 

         “Yeah, like that worked so well last time with that Jesus dude ruining it all.”

Slowly Daryl started opening the buttons of Rick’s shirt.

         “’twasn’t entirely ruined. At least we had that chocolate.”

As though he was reminded suddenly that they were making out in a candy store, he flashed the items behind his partner’s back a quick glance and then reached for one of the chocolate bars that sat in a stand-up display on the counter.   
Opening it, breaking off a piece and shoving it in Rick’s mouth was one flowing motion. The next second his tongue followed the piece of chocolate and a relishing moan escaped him almost instantly. 

         “Mmmm”, Daryl sighed when he pulled back again, “anyone ever told ya that ya taste great in combination with strawberry chocolate?” 

Rick chuckled.

         “Yeah? You look like an almond and honey flavor type of guy yourself”, he replied, looking at the bar he held in his hand after reaching blindly behind himself.

The next moment a piece of it disappeared into Daryl’s mouth and this time Rick’s tongue followed instantly.   
They continued their game with a few more bars of various chocolate flavors, feeding each other with it and kissing the better part of the candy right out of their partner’s mouth, while their hands roamed the other one’s body eagerly.   
Privacy was definitely top on the list of things they never had enough of in this blasted apocalypse. 

After the seventh bar had been opened and both men had indulged in cheesecake flavored chocolate and the taste of each other, Rick leaned his forehead against Daryl’s, while his arms disappeared underneath his lover’s shirt and pulled him close.

         “Glenn’s right, you know. That stuff’s long since over the BBD and might make us sick. Better stop now. If we puke in Abraham’s truck, we best leave the state.”

         “I don’t mind that.”

         “That chocolate being old or puking in Abe’s truck?” Rick teased.

         “Leaving the state”, Daryl replied softly. “I hate Alexandria ‘n’ bein’ caged in with all a’ ‘em people. I miss our cozy cell at the prison or the times we spent in ma tent way out back of Hershel’s farm. ‘twas peaceful despite the damn apocalypse. Jus’ our group, you ‘n’ me. ‘twas enough.” 

         “Yes, it was”, Rick agreed, while he placed a kiss to the side of Daryl’s head. “But Alexandria’s a good place – for …”

         “Li’l Asskicker ‘n’ Carl, I know. ‘s why we gonna stay. For them first of all. ‘n’ you.”

Rick pulled back a little and looked at his partner in surprise.

         “Me?”

         “Yeah. Ya carried the burden a’ keepin’ things together ‘n’ findin’ a new place for our family long enough. Ya deserve a break. And ‘s safer inside the damn wall – want ya to be safe.”  
He gave a frustrated snort.  
         “’s why it pisses me off that yer riskin’ yer life for tampons ‘n’ hairdryers out here, for people we don’t even know.” 

With a smile Rick placed his hand to the back of Daryl’s neck and squeezed lightly, his touch warm and gentle and with the intent to convey some reassurance to his agitated friend.

         “We didn’t know each other, either, when we first met. Didn’t stop me from risking my life nevertheless.”

         “For Merle”, Daryl whispered, before he bit his lower lip and dipped his head.  
          
It was still hard on him, being reminded of his late brother. Not that he needed a reminder – he thought about Merle almost every day. Despite the older Dixon having been a jackass, Daryl had still loved him and missed him achingly. Since that day all those years back when he fell in love with _Officer Friendly,_ Daryl hadn’t been able to shed the dreadful thought what it would do to him to lose Rick. 

         “No”, Rick’s voice derailed his train of thought, “I’m not talking about Merle. I didn’t go back for him back then. Quite frankly, your brother was a douchebag – Shane was right there – and I couldn’t have cared less. But you did. Care, I mean. You loved him. He was important to you, so he was important to me, too.”

         “We just met back then. Why would you …”

         “You know”, Rick cut in, “there’s cultures where tossing a bunch of squirrels at someone means you’re practically engaged.”

Daryl suppressed a smirk, same as Rick.

         “That so, _darling_?” he played along.

         “Absolutely. And I had a feeling that the proposal was worth considering.”

He pushed one of Daryl long bangs out of the man’s face and tucked it behind his ear.

         “You weren’t really angry back then – you were frustrated and scared and worried for the one person you thought was on your side at all. I just had to show you that you were wrong. That you weren’t as alone as you thought you were.”

         “Huh”, Daryl brought his hands up and let them run teasingly over Rick’s bare chest beneath the unbuttoned shirt. “Never thought that tossin’ ‘em squirrels had such an effect on ya. Should throw ma game at ya more often.” 

         “Or”, Rick replied, while pulling the archer flush against him, “you could throw yourself at me, how’s that?” 

         “Intriguin’ idea, Officer Friendly.”

Their lips met again the next second.   
Glenn chose right that moment to cast a checking glance through the window and his eyes widened about two sizes before he made a quick retreat. 

         “Holy moly”, he muttered to himself, “I need some of that chocolate.” 

And he was totally willing to toss the entire load of hairdryers and tampons and thus the worship of the female population of Alexandria along with them, to replace them with a shitload of what Rick and Daryl had been eating. A man had to have his priorities. 

Rick’s lips started to hurt from the fierceness of Daryl’s kisses and there was a tinge of desperation to them the archer wasn’t quite able to conceal. He hugged his partner close as though he meant to crawl into him and barely left him time to breathe, so finally Rick pulled back and placed both of his hands to Daryl’s face.

         “Whoa, hold it. If you keep this up those girls in Alexandria are gonna ask me where I had that Botox treatment to my lips done.”

         “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with yer lips. ‘n fact, they’re perfect.”

That said Daryl tried to kiss him again, but Rick evated him and just pulled him into a tight hug.

         “What’s the matter?”

         “Nothin’. ‘m just gonna kill Eugene tonight, if he don’t leave us alone. Goes for all a’ ‘em.”

A knowing smile spread over Rick’s handsome features.

         “You know, one of these days we might run out of candy and Eugene’s the only one who can put that stuff together somehow. Best not kill him yet.”

         “Good point. Then I’m gonna gag him and tie him to a tree or somethin’, how’s that?”

Rick chuckled. 

         “You’ve been watching too many western DVDs with Carl, Pocahontas. How about we bring Rosita a box of those chocolates and bribe her to keep Eugene busy?”          

The idea made Daryl grin despite himself.

          “Ya ain’t very observant, Grimes. Rosita don’t need ta be bribed, but ‘s a good idea nevertheless. Chocolate’s always perfect. I’s thinking about bringin’ a pile a’ that stuff home maself. I know a couple a’ amazin’ things ya can do with it.”

         “Yeah?” Rick pulled back and looked Daryl in the eyes, suppressing a grin.

         “Yeah. Did ya ever have chocolate-covered banana?”

Rick laughed out loud, when the smirk on Daryl’s face clearly identified that comment as an innuendo.

         “You’re quite a perv at times, you know that?”

         “Why? What did I say?” Daryl replied with an innocent smile, the teasing sparkle never leaving his eyes.

They held each other’s look for a long moment, all the while Daryl wasn’t able to stand still for a single second or keep his hands off his partner. His fingers were playing with the curls in Rick’s nape, then ran down his arms to stroke the leader’s long and lean fingers, snaked around his waist and landed on his butt in the end, while Daryl grinded their groins together once again.

         “C’mere”, Rick said with a smile, pulling him behind the sales counter a moment later where he was sure no one could see them. 

The long and lean fingers got to work instantly and found their way to the button and fly of Daryl’s pants and started opening them.

         “Whadda ya doin’?” the archer croaked in a hoarse voice.

         “Make an educated guess”, Rick sassed before he pushed the pants off Daryl’s hips and freed his rock-hard cock.   
         “You’ve been stabbing me with your erection long enough now. Best give you a hand there, huh?”

         “Nah, got hands a’ ma own, Officer. But ya can put those Botox lips ta use.”   
He cast a glance over his shoulder.   
         “What ‘bout Glenn?”

          “Never mind him”, Rick grinned while he went down on his knees. “If he sticks his nose in here, tell him I was in the mood for a candy cane and having one real quick and we’ll be right there.”

Daryl broke out laughing.

         “Candy cane, huh?” Then the rest of Rick’s words registered. “Whadda ya mean _‘real quick’_?”

Rick’s grin even widened.

         “Just a hunch that this is not gonna take too long, Candyman.” 

The next second his lips closed around Daryl’s length and he was proven right only few moments later when the archer came with a throaty moan and spilled right in his mouth.    
With his knees buckling, Daryl sank onto the floor and leaned his back against the counter, panting heavily. Wiping the remains of his lover’s cum off his _Botox_ lips, Rick looked at him calmly and with a racing heart.    
Daryl’s cheeks were flushed, his hair tousled as usual, the lips kiss swollen like his own and his eyes shining in an intense blue – a hue they always had when Daryl was happy, content, satisfied, _zen_. He was so damn beautiful like that.   
Rick wondered how many times he had looked into those eyes during the past years, feeling his heart swell two sizes each and every time and thanking the good Lord above for making the decision to go back for Merle Dixon. If he hadn’t, if he had let Daryl go back alone that day, they probably wouldn’t be here today.    
Daryl may have died trying to save his brother. And even if he had made it back despite being alone on that mission, finding only Merle’s hand and knowing who did this to his brother, would have made him hate Rick forever. 

         _“You and Daryl, that’s your big plan?”_

Rick still heard Lori’s voice echo in the back of his head and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.    
Yes, that had been the big plan. His and Fate’s plan, to be exact, and it had lead them on a joined path to a candy store in Hicksville, Virginia, so he was able to look into these mesmerizing blue eyes and realize for the umpteenth time that he was the luckiest guy on Earth. 

         “Feel better?” he said gently, while Daryl pulled up his pants and closed the zipper and button.

         “Yeah. Thanks. – How’s the candy cane?” 

         “Quite a mouthful.”

“Idiot.”

He leaned forward and kissed Rick, only to pull a face when he tasted the salty remains of himself on his lover’s tongue. 

         “’s gross”, he growled, reaching for one of the chocolate bars on the counter above his head, while Rick shrugged with a smirk.

         “Wouldn’t say that. I like my popcorn salty, too.”

         “What?” With a frown Daryl shoved a piece of hazel nut chocolate into the leader’s mouth. “Man, first yer calling me a candy cane and now popcorn? ‘s the matter with ya?”

         “I’m hungry.”

The archer’s eyebrows reached his hairline.

         “I ain’t on the menu”, he grumbled, while he put another piece of chocolate in his lover’s mouth.

         “Pity”, Rick muttered around the melting candy, an ambiguous sparkle in his sky-blue eyes. 

Suppressing a smirk, Daryl inched closer to him.

         “Ya sound a li’l antsy there yerself, chief. I best return the favor, huh, ‘fore ya bite me or somethin’.” 

         “Later”, Rick replied with an regretting air on his face.

         “Ya want me to return the favor later or yer gonna bite me later?”

         “Both”, the younger man sassed, before he leaned in and pressed his now chocolate-covered lips to his partner’s for a quick, loving peck.

         “It’s getting late. We gotta get those supplies back to Alexandria.”

The teasing sparkle faded from Daryl’s eyes and a shadow creeped onto his face.

         “I’s afraid ya was gonna say that.”   
He looked around with an almost pained expression.  
          “Wish we could move here. Just you ‘n’ me – and Carl ‘n’ Li’l Asskicker. They’d love it here.” 

Rick laughed out loud.

         “I bet, but no way.”

         “Why? Yer afraid we’d have ta find ‘em XXL pants after all?”  
          
         “No, I’m afraid I’d have to compete for your heart with the bike _and_ a whole store full of chocolate. Tough challenge for a mere mortal.”

Daryl cocked his head in a way he had seen Rick do a million times since they first met and cast him a thoughtful look.

         “I never told ya, right?”

         “Told me what?” 

         “That … I mean, against all the bikes ‘n’ chocolate still in the world … _you_ … you’d never stand a chance.” 

Rick’s mouth gaped open the same second Daryl’s kissed him again ardently, chuckling to himself and welcoming the invitation to slip his tongue right into his lover’s open mouth. The fierceness of the contact had Rick fall over backwards and a moment later they lay on the floor in an entangled heap of arms and legs, giggling like school boys. 

         “You so gonna get punished for that remark, Dixon.”

         “Sure hope so, Grimes. Remember to bring an extra box of chocolates for Rosita.” 

They froze in the motion suddenly and, leaning over his partner, Daryl looked deep into the cerulean orbs. His long hair tickled Rick’s nose when he brought their faces closer together and whispered to him:

         “Hate ya.” 

         “Hate you, too. More than I can even say.” 

          “Yeah? Show me? Tonight, back home?”

         “Home?”

         “Uh-huh. Ya know what they say – home’s where the heart is. Mine’s wherever you are, so I guess Alexandria it is. Still think this place here would be better though.”

         “I bet, _sweetheart._ ”

With a smile Daryl let himself sink to Rick’s side and placed his head on the leader’s shoulder. They lay in each other’s arms a while longer, indulging in the other’s warmth and closeness, running their hands tenderly through each other’s hair and listening to the soft and even breathing. Daryl would have loved to just fall asleep like this now, but Rick’s gentle voice pulled him back into the here and now.

         “Glenn’s waiting. We gotta go.”

Daryl couldn’t help sighing once again and it didn’t go unnoticed. Rick placed a tender kiss on his hair and said:

         “Keep in mind where we left off. We’re gonna pick up there tonight. Promise.” 

         “Promises, promises”, the archer replied, but he did it with the ghost of a smile. 

Reluctantly he sat up and cast a look up at the shelves full of candy, a regretting air on his face. There was no way they were able to bring it all and he felt as though he had to say good-bye now to a whole bunch of really dear and beloved friends.

He got up and then held his hand out to pull Rick off the ground. 

         “I agree with Glenn”, the archer said into the stillness of the room. “This is the greatest run we ever did.”

Rick slipped his hand into Daryl’s and gave it a gentle squeeze, delighted to see a happy sparkle in his partner’s eyes again. It had faded more and more ever since they had passed the gate of Alexandria, but this run today had been like a trip to Disneyland for Daryl – and more. In his heart, he had finally come home.

         “Which one a’ ‘em flavors d’ya like best?” Daryl asked unexpectedly.

         “That’s easy”, Rick replied with a whisper into his ear. “The best flavor in the whole wide world – Daryl Dixon.”  
 


End file.
